Psychological services in Canberra ACT

Summary:
– Personal story
– Person live with severe OCD
– It occupied her every waking moment
– The condition convinced her that she was a bad person
– She did a series of secret routines to redeem herself
– She likens living with the condition to listening to 3 radio channels at once
For this person:
– It is more than being fussy
– It is more than just lining up pencils
– It is more than just washing hands over and over
– She heard her inner voice not as I but as “we”
– the “friend” would say she had done something wrong & needed to apologise profusely
– The therapist described the “friend” as an abusive partner – this was useful
– When the “friend” disappeared it felt like the “friend” had died to this woman despite it being the OCD
– She made lists in her head about things she had done wrong
– She recorded – that is wrote down – all of her mistakes – It felt overwhelming for her
– She developed rituals to ensure safety – Such as doing things three times
– She notes the rituals often bother people at the time
– People can grow out of anxiety she notes
– Her OCD felt completely normal to her, And she felt stressed about it when she realised that other families and friends did not do what she did

She had:
– obsessions About her family and therefore needing to check on them
– If she didn’t check on them, something terrible would happen

OCD can be very difficult to treat
– Cognitive behavioural therapy is the recommended first line of treatment
– This deals with the in the moment obsessions
– It involves exposure exercises
– contamination OCD – various types

What causes it? She says:
– Some people are predisposed to OCD
– Some have a stressful experience which triggers it
– there are genetic, biological & fMRI studies about OCD

She attends a support group for OCD sufferers
She notes that full recovery is possible, but in her case she has slipped back over the last few months